Renault Rips Up The Manual (Part 1)

Renault’s new Clio 200 is unlike any before it, and not just because it dispenses with a manual ‘box. They pit it against the Toyota GT86.

So back in the real world of high-performance motoring, away from the mega-buck, mega-horsepower arena of LaFerrari and McLaren’s PI, the all-new Renault Clio RS 200 Turbo is arguably this year’s most eagerly awaited car. And there are all sorts of reasons why it is so relevant to the here and now.

Renault rips up the manual

One: it is very much of the moment when it comes to delivering a big bang for not that many bucks. It has 197bhp and can hit 62mph in 6.7sec yet costs just $28,495 in basic form, or $29,995 in Lux trim, as tested here.

Two: at the same time, it also makes a genuine attempt not to dent the environment too much in the process - hence the reason why it’s powered by a smaller, 1.6-litre turbocharged engine that delivers 44.8mpg and just 144g/km, compared with the previous hot Clio’s dirtier, thirstier, atmospheric 2.0-litre power plant.

Three - and this is where the new Clio 200 gets exceedingly contemporary indeed - it comes with a dual-clutch automatic transmission and a dual-clutch automatic transmission only. So anyone who’s in the ‘I won’t drive cars without a manual gearbox because paddle-shift gearboxes are for sissies’ camp won’t be driving a new Clio 200. Which is a fairly bold but also potentially damaging move by Renault. Only time will tell whether the decision not to offer the option of a manual will force us all to make a clearer link between Renault’s fast road cars and its participation in FI (which is the intention) or just drive would-be customers in the opposite direction.

Blown Clio 200 won’t be behind the GT86 for long

Either way, there can be no denying that what the latest Clio 200 provides on paper, at least, is more than enough to keep enthusiasts engaged. Because, according to the folks at Renault sport, it’s not just one but actually three different cars under the same roof.

In Normal mode within the new RS drive program, it’s a soothing, civilized, smooth-riding five-door family hatchback that just so happens to go like stink when you put your foot down. But if you then thumb the magic button, which sits just behind the overly large gearlever, Sport mode engages and the steering gets meatier, the gear changes become snappier, the throttle response alters and the traction control allows a bit more slip. At a stroke, your Clio transforms into a snarling, mildly wheel-spinning hot hatch.

Thumb it again to select Race mode, however, and - in theory - everything goes up a notch again, and this time there’s no traction control whatsoever and the gear changes become fully manual. Which means you can run the engine right up to its rev limiter without fear of the gearbox upshifting on its own.

In this mode, says Renault sport, the Clio becomes the equivalent of a road-legal racing car. And should you crave yet more response beneath your backside, you can always specify the Cup chassis. For an additional $675, it adds 18-inch wheels and tires, 15 per cent stiffer springs and dampers, a 3mm lowering in ride height and a brisker steering rack.

The Lux trim level also adds full climate control in place of the standard air conditioning and an intriguing new feature called R Link. This allows you to store and download data via the seven-inch touchscreen from all sorts of circuits, should you so wish, but it also enables the stereo to play a particularly good party trick.

By writing into the music system some crafty algorithms that in effect track what you do with the throttle, gear change, brakes and so on, the stereo can transform the sounds made by your Clio 200 into a range of seminal racing and rally cars from days gone by. So if you want your Clio to replicate the noise of an Alpine A110 rally car at full tilt, all you do is hit the magic button and it delivers. Geeky, yes, but like all good things from planet geek, unquestionably appealing, too.

Clio’s turbo 1.6 is strong yet frugal

GT86’s 2.0-liter flat four gives 197bhp

The slightly lighter Clio has the edge for straight-line pace

Clio driver sits higher up and power goes to the front

Rear-drive GT86 has a typical coupe driving position

It’s so appealing as an overall package, in fact, that we decided not to compare the car with a traditional hot hatch rival but something a bit higher up the food chain instead. So high, indeed, that it is currently holds our Britain’s Best Driver’s Car title, the thinking being that if the Clio 200 Turbo really is as good as they say it is, it should be able to level with a car like the Toyota GT86. And certainly it should appeal to the same kind of customer, one who doesn’t care too much about the difference in price ($30k versus $37.5k) because they’re in search of the ultimate driving experience available on a real-world budget.

Besides, although one is a front-wheel-drive hot hatch and the other a traditional rear-drive coupe, there are plenty of similarities between these two, not just conceptually but also on paper. They both produce exactly 197bhp, they both weigh less than 1300kg and they both have top speeds just the other side of 140mph.

Can the Clio take the heat that the GT86 is so clearly capable of producing? In many ways, yes, it most certainly can. But in one fairly big way, no, not quite. We’ll come to why and where in a little while.

In the meantime, consider this as a scenario. You are sitting in a GT86 at the bottom of a very quiet, very twisty mountain road, in the middle of nowhere in southern Spain. In front of you is the new Clio 200, its driver primed and ready to go, having set the car to Sport or Race mode, you’re not sure which.